E-commerce and e-marketing (online marketing) are important new business and commercial activity sectors, necessitating investment in technology. According to John Kogel (2002), vice president of an Internet management corporation, organizations are no longer willing to simply throw money at technology investment as they did a mere two years ago, and Chief Information Officers (CIOs) and Information Technology (IT) managers are being held increasingly accountable for such investments. The question of ôhow much is too muchö to spend on e-commerce and marketing activities in both the business-to-business and business-to-consumer sectors is of growing significance in light of a changing economic environment and enhanced competitiveness on the Web (Potts, 2002).
Kogel (2002) claims that many organizations are caught in an e-business dilemma. After committing to new ways of doing business, they are pressed to complete transitional e-commerce activities while supporting traditional business functions. With numerous e-commerce initiatives on many corporate launch pads, businesses are being required to prioritize projects, fortify the performance of existing e-commerce initiatives, and carefully considering new programs and projects.
Atanasov (2001) has reported that return on investment (ROI) has become a critical aspect of the e-commerce spectrum. To survive the economic slump which began in 2001, e-commerce customers with a business or consumer focus are tightening technology budgets. Launching a sophisticated commerce Web site can cost upwards of $52 million. While the online commerce market stands to snowball in the next three to five years, the costs of new technologies that make it possible to analyze and act on customer preferences, manage customer relationships, and install technologies that prevent fraud and facilitate transactions also continue to escalate.
Atanasov (2001) states that it is anticipated that the ...